


Dress Me Up In Bubbles, Baby

by TeddyBearDoctors



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Bathing/Washing, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-03-09 13:18:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18917806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeddyBearDoctors/pseuds/TeddyBearDoctors
Summary: Erend and Aloy take a quiet night in together





	Dress Me Up In Bubbles, Baby

The room is warm, steam filling up the air and wrapping them in heat. The bath water is hot, steam rising from the bath as Erend sinks into it. Water sploshes over the edge, smacking wetly on the wood floor and sinking into the cracks. Erend smiles over at Aloy and offers his hand, offering support as she steps into bath in front of him. He watches the gentle curve of her hips, eyes roaming over the smooth muscles of her back and shoulders, sighing with contentment as she settles back against his chest. He feels at home in moments like these, nothing matters but her in his arms, the world outside these walls doesn’t exist and Erend can finally breathe. 

The world is always ending, she’s always leaving, and Erend is always waiting for her to come back. He watches her red hair trail behind her as she leaves Meridian, watches her stumble back weeks, months, later looking bruised and battered and with another piece of herself missing in her eyes. The world needs her and he knows that, he can’t stop her from leaving and he can’t stop her from getting hurt and running into danger alone; he knows he can’t change her or tie her down and he doesn’t want to, he wants to watch her pull back her bow and shoot that perfect shot to take down a charger and he wants to watch her red hair vanish into tall grass outside a bandit camp. Erend wants the fierce and wild woman that Aloy is, but he longs for the moments like these. Moments like these, quiet, domestic, make all the danger and pain worth it. 

“You’re thinking too much.” Aloy says, voice bringing him back to the quiet bathroom. 

Her eyes are closed, leaning deeply into his chest and being fully relaxed for the first time in awhile. She got back last night, road weary and exhausted, she fell asleep and stayed in bed well into the afternoon and then spent the rest of the afternoon trading in the Meridian square before returning to their home with a quick kiss and the request for food. Erend made her a feast, he had been learning to cook for her the last few months, warm stews and bread and the best vegetables he could gather and trade for. She eats, oil slick lips spilling stories of her travels and the monsters she took down and the people she met along the way. Erend listened with rapt attention, giving her loving looks and his own comments that she smiled at. 

Dinner led to Erend offering Aloy a hot bath and she insisted that he join her, always finding comfort in his presence. Erend has never been more grateful for anything in life than Aloy’s trust, it’s something he treasures, something he holds close and dear and would never jeopardize. 

The water sloshes over the edge of the tub as Aloy adjusts in his lap, her hair from her shoulders down is wet and sticking to her moist skin. Erend runs his fingers along her arms, delicate touches along smooth muscle and fair, freckled, skin. She tilts her head to smile at him and he captures her lips in a brief kiss, his heart flutters when she kisses back without hesitation. She used to hesitate, she used to hesitate doing a lot of things with him, she hesitated on the entire relationship. 

Erend cups his hands and fills them with water, pouring it gently over her hair and watching it trickle through her locks over and over. She lets him wet her hair, tilting her head back and shifting her body forward. Erend reaches for the soap and lathers up his hands before burying his fingers in her hair. He messages her scalp, red strands of hair gathering soap at his touch. Her hair is rough from her travels and he works it through his hands slowly and carefully, working out the dirt and the tangles and spreading the soap from root to tip. She leans into his touch, breathing even and relaxed. 

He’s in love. 

She reaches out of the tub and comes back with a little metal mug that she found what feels like forever ago. Erend uses it to wash the soap out of her hair, watching the bubbles fill the tub and her hair comes away shiney and clean and starting to curl. He pulls her in close and kisses her jaw, her neck, nuzzling against her wet skin and smiling when she giggles his name. 

They’re in love.

She turns around in the water, face to face, he smiles and she takes the soap to then start roaming her hands and bubbles over his chest. They could spend hours like this, and they have before, exploring one another’s bodies with soapy hands and gentle looks, sweet touches. If love was a physical thing, if love could fill a room, it would be filling this one. Aloy runs her hands over his chest, his shoulders and arms, her short nails dragging through his dark hair and along his muscles. He watches her with soft eyes, hopelessly in love, a moth to a flame. 

Her hands move to the back of his neck and he leans down to catch her mouth with his, both of them smiling the second their lips touch. Her nails scratch at the nape of his neck, moving up to his hair and moving sudsy hands through his wet strands and starting to wash his hair. Erends pecks her lips again and again as she scrubs his hair, feeling her smile after each kiss until she finally pulls away to find the mug to rinse the soap out of his hair. Aloy is not careful, however, and water runs down his face and Erend sputters and Aloy starts laughing, the mug hitting the bathwater as Erend sweeps his love into his arms. He glares at her for a moment before she kisses him deeply, tasting of the dinner they had eaten that night, and he can’t help the smile that takes over his face in response. 

He stands from the tub, Aloy in his arms, wobbling just a little as he steps out of the tub and onto the hardwood floors. Aloy lets out a startled laugh, clinging to him.

“Erend! Put me down!” She laughs and Erend spins her around the room, laughing as Aloy playfully screams. He places her on her feet and she stands on her tiptoes to peck his lips before spinning away and snatching a towel from the stool by the door. Erend watches as she wraps the towel around her curves, hiding her body from view, before handing him another towel. 

Its scratchy on his skin, wiping away the water the best that it can. Aloy leads him to their bedroom, drying off as they go and tossing the towel aside as their bed comes into view. Erend wanted the best place for Aloy to sleep, knowing she spends too many nights on the cold ground hidden by reeds and tall grass, so the bed is piled with pillows and blankets of the best fabrics, shards well spent. Aloy dives into the bed, fresh skin sliding along the silks and cottons and disappearing beneath the bedding. Erend can’t help how he looks at her, as if she was every star in the sky, as if she was the most beautiful and precious thing ever made, and to him she is all these things and more. She’s everything to him, the most important person in his life.

“Come to bed,” She instructs softly, and he obeys, crawling into the blankets beside her and reveling in how she immediately presses herself against him. Their legs tangled, face to face, skin to skin, Erend has never wanted anything more then every night to be exactly like this one. He cups her face and kisses her slowly, their lips melting together and sliding slow and lovingly until they pull away but not far. Erend can convey a million emotions with one look at Aloy, a million ways and words to tell her he loves her, that he needs her, that he could never imagine a life without her. 

“I love you,” He says and watches her cheeks pink and her eyes sparkle.

“I love you too.” She buries her face in his chest and he wraps his arms around her, warm and safe and together.  

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, kudos and comments are always appreciated!


End file.
